The following Homily was given by Fr. Herbert Nicholls on January 12th
at the Mother of the Light Convent
In
the Gospel Jesus speaks of the one who is above all (cf. Jn 3:31), the one who
has come from heaven…who is designated to bear witness to what he has seen and
heard and to proclaim the word of God.
Now
how does St. Paul reach out to perform this ministry? Firstly, let me recall
the words of Paul from another source when he says, I do not hand on to you anything new; what I hand on to you, I have
received; and I have received it not from any other man but from Jesus Christ
Himself. Paul is referring to his experience along the road to Damascus.
I
think we need that in the context of both the Gospel and Paul’s testimony to
the Corinthians. Strangely, he begins by saying, I boast, I boast, over and over. A man who boasts generally is not
listened to and is turned off very quickly. But Paul is using irony. He says, “I
am not boasting as a man of earthliness, I am boasting as a fool- a fool for
Christ’s sake, and I dare to boast of that!”
In
his reflection, Homilies on II
Corinthians, [24], St. John Chrysostom wrote: St. Paul is acting like someone of illustrious race who has chosen to
dedicate himself to leading a holy life and who feels compelled to sing the
praises of his mentor in order to take down certain people who pride themselves
in a life of vanity. Is Paul’s boasting a way of acting in vanity? No! Because the
only reason he boasts is to humble the people of vanity.
St.
Paul begins his apologia, pointing out his merits, in contrast to those of his
opponents. On the score of race, ethinicity, he is their equal; on the score of
being a minister of Christ, he is even better qualified. And on the score of
his physical and moral sufferings, one cannot but help be moved by this account
which provides us so much more information about his life which is not
contained in the Acts of the Apostles.
This
list is not exhaustive, and much more suffering still lies ahead of him, we can
find the prophecy of Ananias already being fulfilled: I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name (Acts
9:16).
Again,
we find in the homily of St. John Chrysostom, [25], these comments: No matter how terrible they may have been,
the physical evils passed over quite quickly and left behind a great
consolation. But what afflicted Paul, what oppressed his heart, what caused him
great anxiety was the pain caused by the laxity of the faithful. Without
distinction they had become lukewarm! It was not only the behavior of prominent
members that caused him pain for he was indifferent to no one. He ranked all
Christians, irrespective of their social status, as dearly beloved children of
God.
By
boasting about weakness, he is boasting about those things which worldly eyes
see as weakness, failure, humiliation. It is in this weakness that he humbles
himself to call himself a fool – a fool for Christ’s sake.